Ruling on using zakah for the maintenance of mosques

Question:
What is the ruling in the Shari'ah regarding my spending part of my zakah on building a mosque a few years ago, without knowing the ruling? I learned this year that zakah is not permissible for building a mosque. What is the ruling on what I did before? Is it permissible? And what should I do?

Answer:
What is known among the scholars is that zakah is not to be spent on mosques. This is the position of the majority of scholars, and it is the known position of the righteous Salaf and those who came after them, that maintaining mosques, maintaining schools, and the like are not among the categories for which zakah is paid. Rather, it is for eight categories, and maintaining mosques is not among them. As for what is related to it, those who spoke about it said that the phrase and in the cause of Allah, the scholars stated that what is meant by it are the mujahideen (jihad).
Therefore, the one who spent his zakah on mosques should make it up and spend it in its proper channels. That will be a good deed for which he will have a reward and recompense. He should make up what he spent on mosques and give it in other channels for the poor, the needy, the mujahideen, or those whose hearts are to be reconciled.
The point is that he should make up what he spent, meaning he should make up the equivalent of what he spent in the channels of zakah.